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Finland: Eurovisionfun Reacts to Eurovision 2023 Entry “Cha Cha Cha” !

Finland has completed the search for its representative and entry for Eurovision 2023 with “UMK 2023” taking place for another year with big winner Käärijä, with “Cha Cha Cha”!

The Eurovisionfun team once again watched and reacted to the live performance of the country’s participation in the upcoming Eurovision contest! Enjoy Filippos , Aps and Apostolis in a Reaction video with detailed commentary on the participation of Finland, for 2023!

(Video Editing: @filipposgaitis )

Enjoy the live Performance of “Cha Cha Cha”:

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What do you think about the entry of Finland for Eurovision 2023? Tell us in the comments!

Robin Packalen: “My performance will be dangerous and not like the music video” | Exclusive Interview

Robin Packalen is participating in this year’s national final of Finland, UMK 2023 with the track “Girls Like You” and a few days ago he spoke exclusively to Eurovisionfun and specifically to Apostolis and Alvaro, about his participation and his plans for the national final.

Although only 24 years old, Robin has been in the music industry since the age of 13 and is now considered one of the biggest names on the Finnish pop scene! On how he made the decision to take part in UMK 2023, he said:

“I am happy that this year I am taking part in the national final! Almost every year I had an offer to participate but there was always something else in my career and I couldn’t! At this moment I think the time has come and of course I have the right song”

Regarding the participation of “Girls Like You”, he told us the following:

“The song was not written exclusively for the competition! Last year I was in Los Angeles for the creation of the next international album and as soon as I heard the song I said that it is the best I have created! I didn’t want this song to be just another single and that’s how the idea of UMK came about!”

“If I were asked to describe myself with one song it would be ‘Girls Like You’, both in terms of sound and lyrics!”

Regarding his choice to participate with a song in English , he said that he wanted to try something different as he believes that he has offered for many years what he had to give to his country and now it’s time to try his luck to a bigger audience, that of Europe!

This year’s Finnish national final will take place in the city of Turku, which is also the birthplace of the young singer and of course he couldn’t help but express his joy to compete in his “home” and maybe have a small lead, as he said jokingly.

About his stage appearance Robin revealed to us:

“My appearance in the national final will be “dangerous” and will have nothing to do with the aesthetics of the video clip! On the stage there will be props and a lot of acrobatics, which I have been doing since I was a child!”

His favorite Finnish entry states that they are Blind Channel (Finland 2021), with whom they collaborated recently and have the same producers, while as his favorite entry of the competition he preferred a recent favorite of his, “Slo Mo” from Channel.

At the end he sang a part of his participation:

Watch the full interview of Robin:

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Would you like to see Robin representing Finland in Eurovision 2023? Tell us in the comments!

Finland: The Rasmus and BESS to perform at UMK 2023!

The Rasmus and BESS will perform during the Finnish national final as interval acts.  UMK host Samu Haber will join them as an interval act.  In addition to this, one of the members of Younghearted (UMK 2022 contestant) will perform before the live broadcast.

The Rasmus won UMK 2022 and represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.  The Rasmus are one of the most acclaimed rock bands from Finland since the release of their 2003 album Dead Letters.  Last year, the band performed at numerous Finnish summer music festivals and, in the autumn of 2022, it published its own book, The Rasmus, and released its tenth album, Rise. After a special concert performance at the Helsinki Ice Hall last September, the band embarked on a European concert tour and played to a massive crowd in Mexico. The band is currently writing new music and will announce new performance dates later this year.

“It’s so awesome to get back up on the UMK stage! When we were in last year’s contest, the excitement was overwhelming. Now, we get to come back to Logomo to head up an amazing show with our latest single Live and Never Die,” The Rasmus comments. “UMK and Eurovision were absolutely amazing experiences. At ESC in Turin, we were able to make friends with other artists, and we came up with this really great idea to do a collaborative version of In The Shadows together with Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra. Our Eurovision entry Jezebel has also become an audience favourite along with our other hits.”

BESS will also perform during the UMK interval act.  BESS is one of the most successful pop artists in Finland.  She recently won four Finnish Grammy Awards in the categories: Best Solo Artist, Best Pop, Most Streamed Domestic Song (Ram pam pam) and Best Song (Ram pam pam).  She competed in last year’s UMK where she finished in third place.

“It’s a huge pleasure and honour to be able to perform on the UMK stage again and put together a show with this amazing team,” says BESS. “It’s all at once inspiring, exciting and challenging in a different way than when I was competing. It’s so awesome! So, buckle up, and don’t say I didn’t warn you – this UMK is going to be a mega show like no one has ever seen before.”

Last but not least, UMK host Samu Haber will also perform during the national final.  Samu Haber is better known for being the lead singer of the band Sunrise Avenue.

“Just being the host for UMK23 alone is such a great honour, but I have to admit that perhaps the biggest reason for me doing this is the chance to really cut loose on stage,” explains Haber. “Artists don’t get many chances like this to have this kind of setup for doing your own number, and then get to blow everyone away with no holds barred.”

Seven acts are competing to represent Finland at the UMK national final: KeiraBenjaminRobin PackalenLxandraKäärijäKUUMAA, and Portion Boys..  The final will take place next February 25, 2023 at Logomo arena in Turku, Finland.  The winner will be chosen jointly by Finnish television viewers and international juries. The public will account for 75 % of the vote and the juries for the remaining 25 %.

Source: Yle

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for more updates about Finland in Eurovision 2023!

Finland: The running order of UMK 2023!

A few minutes ago Finland‘s national broadcaster Yle announced the line-up of artists who will compete for the ticket to Liverpool and Finland’s representation at Eurovision 2023.

The running order of the 7 artists who will compete in the UMK 2023 final is as follows:

  1. Robin Packalen – “Girls Like You“
  2. KUUMMA – “Ylivoimainen” (Overpowered)
  3. Käärijä  – “Cha Cha Cha“
  4. Keira – “No Business on the Dancefloor“
  5. Benjamin – “Hoida mut” (Take care of me)
  6. Lxandra – “Something to Lose“
  7. Portion Boys – “Samaa taivasta katsotaan” (We look at the same sky)

Yle also revealed some information about the commentary of UMK 2023. There will be commentary in eight different languages (Finnish, Swedish, English, English, Russian, Northern Sami and Inari Sami), sign language commentary provided by Miguel Peltomaa and for the first time there will be commentary in Ukrainian provided by Galyna Sergeyeva.

UMK executive producer Anssi Autio confirmed that two international broadcasts of UMK 2023 will be available, one from Spanish Ten TV and one from Dutch OUTtv.

The national final is scheduled to take place on February 25th. UMK 2023 will be held in Turku with Samu Haber as the host, while the winner and Finland’s representative at Eurovision 2023 will be determined 25% by the international jury voting and 75% by the public vote.

SourceYleYle

Finland: Eurovisionfun Reacts to UMK 2023 Songs! (video)

We’re just under a month away from Finland‘s national final for Eurovision 2023, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, and all seven entries have been announced, completing the puzzle of this year’s national final for the country.

The Eurovisionfun team couldn’t help but see and comment on Finland’s 7 participants  for the upcoming Eurovision contest! Enjoy Matamis Apostolis, Barboutis Paschalis and Gialetzi Stella in a reaction video with detailed commentary for this year’s UMK 2023 entries!

The seven songs of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2023

Just a few days ago, the release of the seven songs that will compete to win Finland’s representation at Eurovision 2023 was completed. The seven entries are as follows (click on the song title to listen):

  1. Keira“No Business on the Dance Floor”
  2. Benjamin – “Hoida Mut”
  3. Robin Packalen – “Girls Like You”
  4. Lxandra – “Something to Lose”
  5. Käärijä – “Cha Cha Cha”
  6. KUUMAA – “Ylivoimainen”
  7. Portion Boys – “Samaa Taivasta Katsotaan”

We remind you that after the release of the seven songs, all that remains is the holding of the national final, which is scheduled for February 25. UMK 2023 will be held in Turku hosted by Samu Haber.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to be the first to enjoy interviews, reaction videos and Live streams for our favorite contest!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding Finland’s participation in Eurovision 2023, in Liverpool!

 

Finland: Listen to the first song for UMK 2023!

The finnish broadcaster has released the first song competing in UMK 2023, the finnish national final for Eurovision 2023.

The song is “No Business On The Dancefloor by Keira and you can listen to it here:

We remind you that the artists/songs competing to represent Finland will be revealed in this order:

  • Thu, 12 January Keira – No Business On The Dancefloor
  • Fri, 13 January Benjamin – Hoida mut
  • Mon, 16 January Robin Packalen – Girls Like You
  • Tue, 17 January Lxandra – Something To Lose
  • Wed, 18 January Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha
  • Thu, 19 January KUUMAA – Ylivoimainen
  • Fri, 20 January Portion Boys – Samaa taivasta katsotaan

The UMK grand final will take place on Saturday, 25 February, 20:00 CET and will be broadcast on Yle TV1, Yle Areena and Yle radio channels.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding UMK and the finnish representative for Eurovision 2023!

Finland: Listen to the first snippets from UMK 2023!

The Official Instagram account for UMK has published a short snippet of the songs that will compete on Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2023 to represent Finland in Eurovision.

In a short video to celebrate Christmas, UMK host Samu Haber shared with us the quick snippets.  Although this is a very small teasing fans can have a little taste of the upcoming season!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by UMK23 (@uudenmusiikinkilpailu)

Starting on January 12 until January 20 we will get to know each song competing on UMK 2023, one song every day.  The name of the artists will be announced on January 11.

The Rasmus represented Finland in Eurovision 2022.  The popular rock band ended in 21st place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSi9nfr65FE

Are you excited about next year UMK?  Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for more news about Finland in Eurovision!

Finland: Samu Haber to host UMK 2023!

Today the Finnish broadcaster announced that Samu Haber, known from the group Sunrise Avenue, will be the host of UMK23.

Samu Haber is not only known for Sunrise Avenue and their biggest hit “Fairytale Gone Bad” , but also for many side jumps in his music career, for example as a judge on the Voice of Germany.

Samu is ready to host UMK and is doing everything to ensure that the artists will enjoy this experience:

“I’m working for UMK and I’m part of the machinery that serves the artists. They’re very nervous, so a big part of the job is getting everything we can out of the performers together with the directors, lighting techs, costumers, and other staff.

This UMK gig is the cherry on top to an unbelievably good year, which has included the Sunrise Avenue farewell tour, my new album in Finnish, and the sold-out tour that followed it.”

Samu has previous experience at Eurovision and UMK. He attended Eurovision in 2016 and 2019 and worked behind the scenes at UMK 2022, serving in a management capacity for runner-up Cyan Kicks.

“There can never be too many carnivals in the world, which is why I have always enjoyed Eurovision and the national finals. Finland has entered some really wonderful songs to Eurovision and there’s a genuine dedication to putting on the best possible show. Especially over the past few years, UMK has grown into something that’s truly spectacular. There’s a sense of pride and real showmanship. We’re so over the Eurovision traumas of the past.”

Samu is currently planning his UMK 2023 performance and he promises that it will be memorable.

“A guy with a white t-shirt and guitar might be a bit too run-of-the-mill for the Logomo stage. At UMK, I can definitely go a bit bigger with the sunglasses and a bit heavier on the glitter.”

The Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu  will take place on February 25, in Logomo, Turku for the second year in a row. Seven songs will participate in the final, which will be announced on January 11 and will begin to be released on different days, from January 12 to 20. The seven songs were selected from 363 entries submitted to Yle.

 

Source: Yle

Finland: UMK23 Final announced!

The search for The Rasmus’ successor in Eurovision has just started!  Today Yle announced the dates for Finland’s biggest music competition: Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK).

The Grand Final will take place on February 25, 2023 in the city of Turku.  Seven artists will fight to wave the Finnish flag in Eurovision next year in Liverpool.  Although we will not get to know the name of the contestants until January, Yle has already anticipated that we will see both familiar and new artists in the competition.  Moreover, we will have “world-class opening numbers” and intermission acts by top Finnish artists during the night of the final.

363 songs were submitted for next year’s UMK.  However only seven songs will make it to the final.  A jury of music professionals was behind this important decision.

“The seven finalists include familiar faces and new, up-and-coming talents. We have, among others, the best dance song in the UMK history sung by an unbelievably strong new singer, a song that just oozes sexuality by a well-known artist, a heartbreakingly beautiful ballad by one of Finland’s biggest export hopefuls, well-known and up-and-coming bands, and one of the hardest rap bangers in UMK history.”

UMK 2023 dates

These are the dates so far for UMK2023:

January 11, 2023 Announcement of the competing acts

January 12-20, 2023 Each song will be announced everyday on UMK’s official channels

UMK 2022 proof to be a success for all competing artists.  Nevertheless, it was the participation of The Rasmus, one of the biggest highlights of the final.   Every song in UMK22 rose to the Top 50 on Finland’s Spotify charts, with the most popular songs taking the top spots of nearly every chart. To date, these songs have racked up over 31 million streams. BESS’s Ram pam pam was the year’s most played song on Finnish radio and the most streamed song online.

However, The Rasmus ended up winning UMK by a landslide ending in first place both by the jury and the public vote.  The Rasmus represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.  They ended in 21st place in the final.